West Bengal has finally resolved the oldest philosophical problem in politics by defining the boundary between good and bad. Plato, Aristotle and Ambedkar might have written many pages on justice, law and democracy, but the political ecosystem of Bengal has simply distilled the complexities of governance into a simple, foolproof binary of bhalo – good – and kharap, bad.

This flawless sorting mechanism is perfectly illustrated by the trajectory of the humble egg, or dim, as Bengalis call it. In the glorious, yolk-splattered era of “dim-ocracy,” a clear distinction has emerged between the good eggs and the bad eggs. 

Bad eggs are those pesky, protein-rich items previously wasted on the mid-day meal plates of malnourished schoolchildren. Deemed too non-vegetarian, too nutritious, and far too inconvenient for spiritual reforms, they have been rightfully rationed and withdrawn from government-run schools in Kolkata. 

Good eggs, by contrast, are the premium, overpriced, preferably rotten ones purchased in bulk by enthusiastic mobs to be hurled at opposition politicians. They are democratic, spontaneous, fragrant, and camera-friendly. Why nourish the future when one can so efficiently humiliate the past?

This good-bad sorting matrix applies with equal precision to the political class.........

© The Wire